Brewer: Stimulus has created 10,000 jobs in Arizona

Nearly 10,000 jobs have been created or retained by Arizona’s stimulus money, according to the Governor’s Office.

Gov. Jan Brewer reported that 9,758 jobs were created in Arizona from February 17, when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed by Congress, and Sept. 30, the end of the reporting period. The numbers were included in quarterly reports submitted by all 50 states.

The report, known as a Section 1512 report, stated that Arizona has secured about $1.9 billion in stimulus related funding with more than $672 million received and about $550 million spent, not including money for Medicaid and stimulus money given to local governments. The state is eligible for about $6.2 billion in stimulus money through 2011.

“Although the Recovery Act dollars do not solve Arizona’s budget crisis, they will help the state mitigate the impacts of this tough economic downturn,” Brewer stated in a press release. “I am pleased to see Recovery Act funds have contributed to areas such as Medicaid, education and transportation.”

The job creation numbers in the report cited jobs created or saved through stimulus money allocated directly to the state. The federal government’s stimulus Web site, www.recovery.gov, reported that 12,283 jobs were created or saved in Arizona, a number that includes money allocated and distributed directly to other entities such as cities, counties, military bases and the U.S. Forest Service, according to Arizona Office of Economic Recovery spokeswoman Tasya Peterson.

Of the 9,758 jobs cited in the state report, about 80 percent were education related, Peterson said. Another major source of jobs was the 186 transportation projects funded by stimulus dollars. The Arizona Department of Transportation was awarded $335 million for those projects.

Peterson said the state hopes to collect data on stimulus money awarded to cities, counties and other entities in the state to include on Arizona’s stimulus-tracking Web site, az.gov/recovery.